Considering how much faith the organization had in the talented tight end's ability to rise above his past, witnessing Hernandez’s hard, fast fall is like getting "punched in the gut."

That's how one AFC executive described the feeling of a team being let down by a player in the manner of Hernandez, who initially rewarded the Patriots after being deemed a character risk. Given that Hernandez's story now includes a charge of first-degree murder, the Patriots should be sick to their stomachs.

When they drafted Hernandez, they made a top-to-bottom decision to trust the ability of their front office, coaches and locker room to keep Hernandez upstanding off the field. When the team released him Wednesday following his arrest, that faith was shattered into a million pieces.

Although some teams had Hernandez off their draft board when he came out of the University of Florida in 2010, others considered drafting him because of the skill set that made him a Pro Bowl player in 2011. When weighing his talent against his red flags — including a failed drug test and concerns about him associating with the wrong crowd — the AFC executive believes the Patriots took Hernandez right where he should have gone. He was picked in the fourth round, No. 113 overall.

The Patriots — as one of the game's steadiest and most successful franchises under their two key figures, coach Bill Belichick and owner Robert Kraft — were calculated with their call to draft Hernandez. Through last season, it had come with a big payoff.

When the Patriots gave Hernandez a five-year contract extension worth up to $40 million last summer, they were not only investing in his future but also believing that he had risen above his past.

Hernandez thought that, too, based on what he told reporters after agreeing to the deal on Aug. 27, 2012: "This is a place that not only changed my future from them paying me, but it changed me as a person because you can’t come here and act reckless and do your own stuff."

Before then, Hernandez was paid like a fourth-round pick. When any player gets a big second contract, it comes with another risk — the temptation to summon his old lifestyle with new resources.

"When you're an athlete who’s had some trouble, it just gives you more access to the past vices," the AFC executive said.